Zr-Sn-Ti-O FILMS

ABSTRACT

A dielectric layer containing a Zr—Sn—Ti—O film and a method of fabricating such a dielectric layer produce a reliable dielectric layer having an equivalent oxide thickness thinner than attainable using SiO 2 . In an embodiment, forming the Zr—Sn—Ti—O film on a substrate includes depositing materials of the Zr—Sn—Ti—O film substantially as atomic monolayers. In an embodiment, electronic devices include a dielectric layer having a Zr—Sn—Ti—O film such that Zr—Sn—Ti—O material is configured as substantially atomic monolayers. Dielectric layers containing such Zr—Sn—Ti—O films may have minimal reactions with a silicon substrate or other structures during processing.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional application of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/084,968 filed on Mar. 21, 2005, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/309,935 filed Dec. 4, 2002, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,101,813, which applications are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

This application is related to the following, co-pending, commonly assigned applications, incorporated herein by reference:

U.S. application Ser. No. 10/137,058, U.S. Pat. No. 7,589,029, entitled: “Atomic Layer Deposition and Conversion,”

U.S. application Ser. No. 10/137,168, U.S. Pat. No. 7,160,577, entitled: “Methods for Atomic-Layer Deposition of Aluminum Oxides in Integrated Circuits,”

U.S. application Ser. No. 09/797,324, U.S. Pat. No. 6,852,167, entitled: “Methods, Systems, and Apparatus for Uniform Chemical-Vapor Depositions,” and

U.S. application Ser. No. 10/309,583, U.S. Pat. No. 6,958,302, entitled: “Atomic Layer Deposited Zr—Sn—Ti—O Films Using TiI₄.”

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to semiconductor devices and device fabrication. Specifically, the invention relates to dielectric layers and their method of fabrication.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The semiconductor device industry has a market driven need to improve speed performance, improve its low static (off-state) power requirements, and adapt to a wide range of power supply and output voltage requirements for it silicon based microelectronic products. In particular, in the fabrication of transistors, there is continuous pressure to reduce the size of devices such as transistors. The ultimate goal is to fabricate increasingly smaller and more reliable integrated circuits (ICs) for use in products such as processor chips, mobile telephones, and memory devices such as dynamic random access memories (DRAMs). The smaller devices are frequently powered by batteries, where there is also pressure to reduce the size of the batteries, and to extend the time between battery charges. This forces the industry to not only design smaller transistors, but to design them to operate reliably with lower power supplies.

Currently, the semiconductor industry relies on the ability to reduce or scale the dimensions of its basic devices, primarily, the silicon based metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET). A common configuration of such a transistor is shown in FIG. 1. While the following discussion uses FIG. 1 to illustrate a transistor from the prior art, one skilled in the art will recognize that the present invention could be incorporated into the transistor shown in FIG. 1 to form a novel transistor according to the invention. A transistor 100 is fabricated in a substrate 110 that is typically silicon, but could be fabricated from other semiconductor materials as well. Transistor 100 has a source region 120 and a drain region 130. A body region 132 is located between source region 120 and drain region 130, where body region 132 defines a channel of the transistor with a channel length 134. A gate dielectric 140 is located on body region 132 with a gate 150 located over gate dielectric 140. Although gate dielectric 140 may be formed from materials other than oxides, gate dielectric 140 is typically an oxide, and is commonly referred to as a gate oxide. Gate 150 may be fabricated from polycrystalline silicon (polysilicon), or other conducting materials such as metal may be used.

In fabricating transistors to be smaller in size and reliably operate on lower power supplies, one important design criteria is gate dielectric 140. The mainstay for forming the gate dielectric has been silicon dioxide, SiO₂. A thermally grown amorphous SiO₂ layer provides an electrically and thermodynamically stable material, where the interface of the SiO₂ layer with underlying Si provides a high quality interface as well as superior electrical isolation properties. In typical processing, use of SiO₂ on Si has provided defect charge densities on the order of 10¹⁰/cm², midgap interface state densities of approximately 10¹⁰/cm² eV, and breakdown voltages in the range of 15 MV/cm. With such qualities, there would be no apparent need to use a material other than SiO₂, but increased scaling and other requirements for gate dielectrics create the need to find other dielectric materials to be used for a gate dielectric.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a common configuration of a transistor in which an embodiment of a gate dielectric containing atomic layer deposited Zr—Sn—Ti—O may be formed according to the teachings of the present invention.

FIG. 2A shows an embodiment of an atomic layer deposition system for processing a dielectric film containing Zr—Sn—Ti—O, according to the teachings of the present invention.

FIG. 2B shows an embodiment of a gas-distribution fixture of an atomic layer deposition system for processing a dielectric film containing Zr—Sn—Ti—O, according to the teachings of the present invention.

FIG. 3 illustrates a flow diagram of elements for an embodiment of a method to process a dielectric film containing Zr—Sn—Ti—O by atomic layer deposition, according to the teachings of the present invention.

FIG. 4 illustrates a flow diagram of elements for another embodiment of a method to process a dielectric film containing Zr—Sn—Ti—O by atomic layer deposition, according to the teachings of the present invention.

FIG. 5 shows an embodiment of a configuration of a transistor having an atomic layer deposited Zr—Sn—Ti—O dielectric film, according to the teachings of the present invention.

FIG. 6 shows an embodiment of a personal computer incorporating devices having an atomic layer deposited Zr—Sn—Ti—O dielectric film, according to the teachings of the present invention.

FIG. 7 illustrates a schematic view of an embodiment of a central processing unit incorporating devices having an atomic layer deposited Zr—Sn—Ti—O dielectric film, according to the teachings of the present invention.

FIG. 8 illustrates a schematic view of an embodiment of a DRAM memory device having an atomic layer deposited Zr—Sn—Ti—O dielectric film, according to the teachings of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

In the following detailed description of the invention, reference is made to the accompanying drawings that form a part hereof, and in which is shown, by way of illustration, specific embodiments in which the invention may be practiced. These embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention. Other embodiments may be utilized and structural, logical, and electrical changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

The terms wafer and substrate used in the following description include any structure having an exposed surface with which to form the integrated circuit (IC) structure of the invention. The term substrate is understood to include semiconductor wafers. The term substrate is also used to refer to semiconductor structures during processing, and may include other layers that have been fabricated thereupon. Both wafer and substrate include doped and undoped semiconductors, epitaxial semiconductor layers supported by a base semiconductor or insulator, as well as other semiconductor structures well known to one skilled in the art. The term conductor is understood to include semiconductors, and the term insulator or dielectric is defined to include any material that is less electrically conductive than the materials referred to as conductors.

The term “horizontal” as used in this application is defined as a plane parallel to the conventional plane or surface of a wafer or substrate, regardless of the orientation of the wafer or substrate. The term “vertical” refers to a direction perpendicular to the horizontal as defined above. Prepositions, such as “on”, “side” (as in “sidewall”), “higher”, “lower”, “over” and “under” are defined with respect to the conventional plane or surface being on the top surface of the wafer or substrate, regardless of the orientation of the wafer or substrate. The following detailed description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of the present invention is defined only by the appended claims, along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.

A gate dielectric 140 of FIG. 1, when operating in a transistor, has both a physical gate dielectric thickness and an equivalent oxide thickness (t_(eq)). The equivalent oxide thickness quantifies the electrical properties, such as capacitance, of a gate dielectric 140 in terms of a representative physical thickness. t_(eq) is defined as the thickness of a theoretical SiO₂ layer that would be required to have the same capacitance density as a given dielectric, ignoring leakage current and reliability considerations.

A SiO₂ layer of thickness, t, deposited on a Si surface as a gate dielectric will have a t_(eq) larger than its thickness, t. This t_(eq) results from the capacitance in the surface channel on which the SiO₂ is deposited due to the formation of a depletion/inversion region. This depletion/inversion region may result in t_(eq) being from 3 to 6 Angstroms (Å) larger than the SiO₂ thickness, t. Thus, with the semiconductor industry driving to someday scale the gate dielectric equivalent oxide thickness to under 10 Å, the physical thickness requirement for a SiO₂ layer used for a gate dielectric would be need to be approximately 4 to 7 Å.

Additional requirements on a SiO₂ layer would depend on the gate electrode used in conjunction with the SiO₂ gate dielectric. Using a conventional polysilicon gate would result in an additional increase in t_(eq) for the SiO₂ layer. This additional thickness could be eliminated by using a metal gate electrode, though metal gates are not currently used in typical complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistor (CMOS) technology. Thus, future devices would be designed towards a physical SiO₂ gate dielectric layer of about 5 Å or less. Such a small thickness requirement for a SiO₂ oxide layer creates additional problems.

Silicon dioxide is used as a gate dielectric, in part, due to its electrical isolation properties in a SiO₂—Si based structure. This electrical isolation is due to the relatively large band gap of SiO₂ (8.9 eV) making it a good insulator from electrical conduction. Signification reductions in its band gap would eliminate it as a material for a gate dielectric. As the thickness of a SiO₂ layer decreases, the number of atomic layers, or monolayers of the material in the thickness decreases. At a certain thickness, the number of monolayers will be sufficiently small that the SiO₂ layer will not have a complete arrangement of atoms as in a larger or bulk layer. As a result of incomplete formation relative to a bulk structure, a thin SiO₂ layer of only one or two monolayers will not form a full band gap. The lack of a full band gap in a SiO₂ gate dielectric could cause an effective short between an underlying Si channel and an overlying polysilicon gate. This undesirable property sets a limit on the physical thickness to which a SiO₂ layer may be scaled. The minimum thickness due to this monolayer effect is thought to be about 7-8 Å. Therefore, for future devices to have a t_(eq) less than about 10 Å, dielectrics other than SiO₂ need to be considered for use as a gate dielectric.

For a typical dielectric layer used as a gate dielectric, the capacitance is determined as one for a parallel plate capacitance: C=κε₀A/t, where κ is the dielectric constant, ε₀ is the permittivity of free space, A is the area of the capacitor, and t is the thickness of the dielectric. The thickness, t, of a material is related to its t_(eq) for a given capacitance, with SiO₂ having a dielectric constant κ_(ox)=3.9, as

t=(κ/κ_(ox))t _(eq)=(κ/3.9)t _(eq).

Thus, materials with a dielectric constant greater than that of SiO₂, 3.9, will have a physical thickness that may be considerably larger than a desired t_(eq), while providing the desired equivalent oxide thickness. For example, an alternate dielectric material with a dielectric constant of 10 could have a thickness of about 25.6 Å to provide a t_(eq) of 10 Å, not including any depletion/inversion layer effects. Thus, a reduced equivalent oxide thickness for transistors may be realized by using dielectric materials with higher dielectric constants than SiO₂.

The thinner equivalent oxide thickness required for lower transistor operating voltages and smaller transistor dimensions may be realized by a significant number of materials, but additional fabricating requirements makes determining a suitable replacement for SiO₂ difficult. The current view for the microelectronics industry is still for Si based devices. This requires that the gate dielectric employed be grown on a silicon substrate or silicon layer, which places significant restraints on the substitute dielectric material. During the formation of the dielectric on the silicon layer, there exists the possibility that a small layer of SiO₂ could be formed in addition to the desired dielectric. The result would effectively be a dielectric layer consisting of two sublayers in parallel with each other and the silicon layer on which the dielectric is formed. In such a case, the resulting capacitance would be that of two dielectrics in series. As a result, the t_(eq) of the dielectric layer would be the sum of the SiO₂ thickness and a multiplicative factor of the thickness of the dielectric being formed, written as

t _(eq) =t _(SiO2)+(κ_(ox)/κ)t.

Thus, if a SiO₂ layer is formed in the process, the t_(eq) is again limited by a SiO₂ layer. In the event that a barrier layer is formed between the silicon layer and the desired dielectric in which the barrier layer prevents the formation of a SiO₂ layer, the t_(eq) would be limited by the layer with the lowest dielectric constant. However, whether a single dielectric layer with a high dielectric constant or a barrier layer with a higher dielectric constant than SiO₂ is employed, the layer interfacing with the silicon layer must provide a high quality interface to maintain a high channel carrier mobility.

In a recent article by G. D. Wilk et al., Journal of Applied Physics, vol. 89, no. 10, pp. 5243-5275 (2001), material properties of high dielectric materials for gate dielectrics were discussed. Among the information disclosed was the viability of Al₂O₃ as a substitute for SiO₂. Al₂O₃ was disclosed has having favourable properties for use as a gate dielectric such as high band gap, thermodynamic stability on Si up to high temperatures, and an amorphous structure. In addition, Wilk disclosed that forming a layer of Al₂O₃ on silicon does not result in a SiO₂ interfacial layer. However, the dielectric constant of Al₂O₃ is only 9, where thin layers may have a dielectric constant of about 8 to about 10. Though the dielectric constant of Al₂O₃ is in an improvement over SiO₂, a higher dielectric constant for a gate dielectric is desirable. Other dielectrics and their properties discussed by Wilk include

Dielectric Constant Band gap Material (κ) E_(g) (eV) Crystal Structure(s) SiO₂ 3.9 8.9 Amorphous Si₃N₄ 7 5.1 Amorphous Al₂O₃ 9 8.7 Amorphous Y₂O₃ 15 5.6 Cubic La₂O₃ 30 4.3 Hexagonal, Cubic Ta₂O₅ 26 4.5 Orthorhombic TiO₂ 80 3.5 Tetrag. (rutile, anatase) HfO₂ 25 5.7 Mono., Tetrag., Cubic ZrO₂ 25 7.8 Mono., Tetrag., Cubic

One of the advantages using SiO₂ as a gate dielectric has been that the formation of the SiO₂ layer results in an amorphous gate dielectric. Having an amorphous structure for a gate dielectric is advantageous because grain boundaries in polycrystalline gate dielectrics provide high leakage paths. Additionally, grain size and orientation changes throughout a polycrystalline gate dielectric may cause variations in the film's dielectric constant. The abovementioned material properties including crystal structure are for the materials in a bulk form. The materials having the advantage of a high dielectric constant relative to SiO₂ also have the disadvantage of a crystalline form, at least in a bulk configuration. Thus, the best candidates for replacing SiO₂ as a gate dielectric are those with high dielectric constant, which may be fabricated as a thin layer with an amorphous form.

Based solely on the size of the dielectric constant, titanium oxide, TiO₂, appears to be an excellent candidate for replacing SiO₂. However, TiO₂ does not provide the electrical properties generally desired for integrated circuits, such as, high electric field breakdown and low leakage current. Other possible replacements for amorphous SiO₂ include layers of TaO_(x), Ta₂O₅, TiO_(x), and (Ba, Sr)TiO₃. Each of these replacements has advantages and disadvantages. Additional candidates for replacing amorphous SiO₂ include sputter deposited amorphous Ti-rich Zr—Sn—Ti—O, pulsed laser deposited Zr_(1-x)Sn_(x)TiO₄, sputter deposited crystalline films of Zr_(y)Ti_(1-y)O₄ and Zr_(y)Sn_(x)Ti_(1-x-y)O₄ with 0.3<y<0.7 and 0<x<0.2, and reactive sputtered Zr_(0.2)Sn_(0.2)Ti_(0.6)O₂. The pulsed laser deposited Zr_(1-x)Sn_(x)TiO₄ thin films were found to have a dielectric constant of about 36. Additionally, the sputtered deposited crystalline films of Zr_(y)Ti_(1-y)O₄ and Zr_(y)Sn_(x)Ti_(1-x-y)O₄ with 0.3<y<0.7 and 0<x<0.2 were found to have dielectric constant of about 33 for 450 Å thick films, while reactive sputtered amorphous Zr_(0.2)Sn_(0.2)Ti_(0.6)O₂ thin films were found to have a dielectric constant ranging from about 50 to about 70. See, O. Nakagawara et al., Journal of Applied Physics, vol. 80, no. 1, pp. 388-392 (1998), E. S. Ramakrishnan et al., Journal of Electrochemical Society, vol. 145, no. 1, pp. 358-362 (1998), and R. B. Dover et al., IEEE Electron Device Letters, vol. 19, no. 9, pp. 329-331 (1998).

In an embodiment, a method of forming a dielectric film may include the formation of Zr—Sn—Ti—O by depositing materials of the Zr—Sn—Ti—O film substantially as atomic monolayers. In an embodiment, a method includes depositing titanium and oxygen onto a substrate surface substantially as an atomic monolayer, depositing zirconium and oxygen onto the substrate surface substantially as an atomic monolayer, and depositing tin and oxygen onto the substrate surface substantially as an atomic monolayer to form a Zr—Sn—Ti—O dielectric layer. The Zr—Sn—Ti—O layer thickness may be controlled by processing a total number of substantially atomic monolayers to produce the desired thickness.

A dielectric film containing Zr—Sn—Ti—O has a larger dielectric constant than silicon dioxide, a relatively small leakage current, and good stability with respect to a silicon based substrate. Embodiments include methods for forming capacitors, transistors, memory devices, and electronic systems having dielectric layers containing a Zr—Sn—Ti—O film such that Zr—Sn—Ti—O material is configured as substantially atomic monolayers.

Other embodiments include structures for capacitors, transistors, memory devices, and electronic systems with dielectric layers containing a Zr—Sn—Ti—O film such that Zr—Sn—Ti—O material is configured as substantially atomic monolayers. Such dielectric films provide a significantly thinner equivalent oxide thickness compared with a silicon oxide layer having the same physical thickness. Alternatively, such dielectric films provide a significantly thicker physical thickness than a silicon oxide layer having the same equivalent oxide thickness.

However, other considerations for selecting the material and method for forming a dielectric film for use in electronic devices and systems concern the suitability of the material for applications requiring that the dielectric film have a ultra-thin equivalent oxide thickness, form conformally on a substrate, and/or be engineered to specific thickness and elemental concentrations. Another consideration concerns the roughness of the dielectric film on a substrate. Surface roughness of the dielectric film has a significant effect on the electrical properties of the gate oxide, and the resulting operating characteristics of the transistor. The leakage current through a physical 1.0 nm gate oxide increases by a factor of 10 for every 0.1 increase in the root-mean-square (RMS) roughness.

During a conventional sputtering deposition process stage, particles of the material to be deposited bombard the surface at a high energy. When a particle hits the surface, some particles adhere, and other particles cause damage. High energy impacts remove body region particles creating pits. The surface of such a deposited layer may have a rough contour due to the rough interface at the body region.

In an embodiment according to the teachings of the present invention, a Zr—Sn—Ti—O dielectric film having a substantially smooth surface relative to other processing techniques may be formed using atomic layer deposition (ALD). Further, forming a dielectric film using atomic layer deposition may provide for controlling transitions between material layers. Thus, atomic layer deposited Zr—Sn—Ti—O dielectric films may have an engineered transition with a substrate surface that has a substantially reduced or no interfacial SiO₂ layer. Further, the ALD deposited Zr—Sn—Ti—O dielectric films may provide conformal coverage on the surfaces on which they are deposited.

ALD, also known as atomic layer epitaxy (ALE), was developed in the early 1970's as a modification of chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and is also called “alternatively pulsed-CVD.” In ALD, gaseous precursors are introduced one at a time to the substrate surface mounted within a reaction chamber (or reactor). This introduction of the gaseous precursors takes the form of pulses of each gaseous precursor. Between the pulses, the reaction chamber is purged with a gas, which in many cases is an inert gas, or evacuated.

In a chemisorption-saturated ALD (CS-ALD) process, during the first pulsing phase, reaction with the substrate occurs with the precursor saturatively chemisorbed at the substrate surface. Subsequent pulsing with a purging gas removes precursor excess from the reaction chamber.

The second pulsing phase introduces another precursor on the substrate where the growth reaction of the desired film takes place. Subsequent to the film growth reaction, reaction byproducts and precursor excess are purged from the reaction chamber. With favourable precursor chemistry where the precursors adsorb and react with each other on the substrate aggressively, one ALD cycle may be preformed in less than one second in properly designed flow type reaction chambers. Typically, precursor pulse times range from about 0.5 sec to about 2 to 3 seconds.

In ALD, the saturation of all the reaction and purging phases makes the growth self-limiting. This self-limiting growth results in large area uniformity and conformality, which has important applications for such cases as planar substrates, deep trenches, and in the processing of porous silicon and high surface area silica and alumina powders. Significantly, ALD provides for controlling film thickness in a straightforward manner by controlling the number of growth cycles.

ALD was originally developed to manufacture luminescent and dielectric films needed in electroluminescent displays. Significant efforts have been made to apply ALD to the growth of doped zinc sulfide and alkaline earth metal sulfide films. Additionally, ALD has been studied for the growth of different epitaxial II-V and II-VI films, nonepitaxial crystalline or amorphous oxide and nitride films and multilayer structures of these. There also has been considerable interest towards the ALD growth of silicon and germanium films, but due to the difficult precursor chemistry, this has not been very successful.

The precursors used in an ALD process may be gaseous, liquid or solid. However, liquid or solid precursors must be volatile. The vapor pressure must be high enough for effective mass transportation. Also, solid and some liquid precursors need to be heated inside the reaction chamber and introduced through heated tubes to the substrates. The necessary vapor pressure must be reached at a temperature below the substrate temperature to avoid the condensation of the precursors on the substrate. Due to the self-limiting growth mechanisms of ALD, relatively low vapor pressure solid precursors may be used though evaporation rates may somewhat vary during the process because of changes in their surface area.

There are several other requirements for precursors used in ALD. The precursors must be thermally stable at the substrate temperature because their decomposition would destroy the surface control and accordingly the advantages of the ALD method that relies on the reaction of the precursor at the substrate surface. A slight decomposition, if slow compared to the ALD growth, may be tolerated.

The precursors have to chemisorb on or react with the surface, though the interaction between the precursor and the surface as well as the mechanism for the adsorption is different for different precursors. The molecules at the substrate surface must react aggressively with the second precursor to form the desired solid film. Additionally, precursors should not react with the film to cause etching, and precursors should not dissolve in the film. Using highly reactive precursors in ALD contrasts with the selection of precursors for conventional CVD.

The by-products in the reaction must be gaseous in order to allow their easy removal from the reaction chamber. Further, the by-products should not react or adsorb on the surface.

In a reaction sequence ALD (RS-ALD) process, the self-limiting process sequence involves sequential surface chemical reactions. RS-ALD relies on chemistry between a reactive surface and a reactive molecular precursor. In an RS-ALD process, molecular precursors are pulsed into the ALD reaction chamber separately. The metal precursor reaction at the substrate is typically followed by an inert gas pulse to remove excess precursor and by-products from the reaction chamber prior to pulsing the next precursor of the fabrication sequence.

By RS-ALD, films can be layered in equal metered sequences that are all identical in chemical kinetics, deposition per cycle, composition, and thickness. RS-ALD sequences generally deposit less than a full layer per cycle. Typically, a deposition or growth rate of about 0.25 to about 2.00 Å per RS-ALD cycle may be realized.

The advantages of RS-ALD include continuity at an interface, conformality over a substrate, use of low temperature and mildly oxidizing processes, freedom from first wafer effects and chamber dependence, growth thickness dependent solely on the number of cycles performed, and ability to engineer multilayer laminate films with resolution of one to two monolayers. RS-ALD allows for deposition control on the order on monolayers and the ability to deposit monolayers of amorphous films.

Herein, a sequence refers to the ALD material formation based on an ALD reaction of one precursor with its reactant precursor. For example, forming titanium oxide from a TiCl₄ precursor and H₂O₂, as its reactant precursor, forms an embodiment of a titanium/oxygen sequence, which may also be referred to as titanium sequence. A cycle of a sequence may include pulsing a precursor, pulsing a purging gas for the precursor, pulsing a reactant precursor, and pulsing the reactant's purging gas. Alternately, an ALD cycle for forming a particular material may consist of several cycles, each of the several cycles associated with a different sequence. In an embodiment, a Zr—Sn—Ti—O cycle may include a titanium/oxygen sequence, a zirconium/oxygen sequence, and a tin/oxygen sequence.

In an embodiment, a layer of Zr—Sn—Ti—O is formed on a substrate mounted in a reaction chamber using ALD in a repetitive sequence using precursor gases individually pulsed into the reaction chamber. Alternately, solid or liquid precursors may be used in an appropriately designed reaction chamber. ALD formation of other materials is disclosed in co-pending, commonly assigned U.S. patent application: entitled “Atomic Layer Deposition and Conversion,” Ser. No. 10/137,058, and “Methods, Systems, and Apparatus for Atomic-Layer Deposition of Aluminum Oxides in Integrated Circuits,” Ser. No. 10/137,168, U.S. Pat. No. 7,160,577.

FIG. 2A shows an embodiment of an atomic layer deposition system 200 for processing a dielectric film containing Zr—Sn—Ti—O. The elements depicted are those elements necessary for discussion of the present invention such that those skilled in the art may practice the present invention without undue experimentation. A further discussion of the ALD reaction chamber can be found in co-pending, commonly assigned U.S. patent application: entitled “Methods, Systems, and Apparatus for Uniform Chemical-Vapor Depositions,” Ser. No. 09/797,324, U.S. Pat. No. 6,852,167, incorporated herein by reference.

In FIG. 2A, a substrate 210 is located inside a reaction chamber 220 of ALD system 200. Also located within reaction chamber 220 is a heating element 230, which is thermally coupled to substrate 210 to control the substrate temperature. A gas-distribution fixture 240 introduces precursor gases to the substrate 210. Each precursor gas originates from individual gas sources 251-254 whose flow is controlled by mass-flow controllers 256-259, respectively. Gas sources 251-254 provide a precursor gas either by storing the precursor as a gas or by providing a location and apparatus for evaporating a solid or liquid material to form the selected precursor gas. Furthermore, additional gas sources may be included, one for each metal precursor employed and one for each reactant precursor associated with each metal precursor.

Also included in the ALD system are purging gas sources 261, 262, each of which is coupled to mass-flow controllers 266, 267, respectively. Furthermore, additional purging gas sources may be constructed in ALD system 200, one purging gas source for each precursor gas. For a process that uses the same purging gas for multiple precursor gases less purging gas sources are required for ALD system 200. Gas sources 251-254 and purging gas sources 261-262 are coupled by their associated mass-flow controllers to a common gas line or conduit 270, which is coupled to the gas-distribution fixture 240 inside reaction chamber 220. Gas conduit 270 is also coupled to vacuum pump, or exhaust pump, 281 by mass-flow controller 286 to remove excess precursor gases, purging gases, and by-product gases at the end of a purging sequence from the gas conduit.

Vacuum pump, or exhaust pump, 282 is coupled by mass-flow controller 287 to remove excess precursor gases, purging gases, and by-product gases at the end of a purging sequence from reaction chamber 220. For convenience, control displays, mounting apparatus, temperature sensing devices, substrate maneuvering apparatus, and necessary electrical connections as are known to those skilled in the art are not shown in FIG. 2A.

FIG. 2B shows an embodiment of a gas-distribution fixture 240 of atomic layer deposition system 200 for processing a dielectric film containing Zr—Sn—Ti—O. Gas-distribution fixture 240 includes a gas-distribution member 242, and a gas inlet 244. Gas inlet 244 couples gas-distribution member 242 to gas conduit 270 of FIG. 2A. Gas-distribution member 242 includes gas-distribution holes, or orifices, 246 and gas-distribution channels 248. In the exemplary embodiment, holes 246 are substantially circular with a common diameter in the range of 15-20 microns, gas-distribution channels 248 have a common width in the range of 20-45 microns. The surface 249 of gas distribution member 242 having gas-distribution holes 246 is substantially planar and parallel to substrate 210 of FIG. 2A. However, other embodiments use other surface forms as well as shapes and sizes of holes and channels. The distribution and size of holes may also affect deposition thickness and thus might be used to assist thickness control. Holes 246 are coupled through gas-distribution channels 248 to gas inlet 244. Though ALD system 200 is well suited for practicing the present invention, other ALD systems commercially available may be used.

The use, construction and fundamental operation of reaction chambers for deposition of films are understood by those of ordinary skill in the art of semiconductor fabrication. The present invention may be practiced on a variety of such reaction chambers without undue experimentation. Furthermore, one of ordinary skill in the art will comprehend the necessary detection, measurement, and control techniques in the art of semiconductor fabrication upon reading the disclosure.

The elements of ALD system 200 may be controlled by a computer. To focus on the use of ALD system 200 in the various embodiments of the present invention, the computer is not shown. Those skilled in the art can appreciate that the individual elements such as pressure control, temperature control, and gas flow within ALD system 200 may be under computer control. In an embodiment, a computer to accurately control the integrated functioning of the elements of ALD system 200 to form a dielectric film containing Zr—Sn—Ti—O executes instructions stored in a computer readable medium.

In an embodiment, a method of forming a dielectric film may include forming a Zr—Sn—Ti—O film on a substrate surface by atomic layer deposition. In another embodiment, the method may further include controlling the atomic layer deposition to form the dielectric film as an amorphous Ti-rich Zr—Sn—Ti—O film. A Ti-rich Zr—Sn—Ti—O film is a Zr—Sn—Ti—O film in which Ti is present as 50% or more of the total metal atoms in the Zr—Sn—Ti—O. In another embodiment, the method may further include controlling the atomic layer deposition to form the dielectric film having a composition substantially of Zr_(y)Sn_(x)Ti_(1-x-y)O₄ with 0.3<y<0.7 and 0<x<0.2. Alternately, the method may further include controlling the atomic layer deposition to form the dielectric film having a composition substantially of Zr_(0.2)Sn_(0.2)Ti_(0.6)O₂. In an embodiment, each of a titanium sequence, a zirconium sequence, and a tin sequence may include using precursors that form would metal oxides for each metal sequence.

FIG. 3 illustrates a flow diagram of elements for an embodiment of a method to process a dielectric film containing Zr—Sn—Ti—O by atomic layer deposition. This embodiment for forming a Zr—Sn—Ti—O dielectric film by atomic layer deposition may include depositing titanium and oxygen onto a substrate surface by atomic layer deposition, at block 310, depositing zirconium and oxygen onto the substrate surface by atomic layer deposition, at block 320, and depositing tin and oxygen onto the substrate surface by atomic layer deposition, at block 330. In an embodiment, performing a titanium sequence, a zirconium sequence, and a tin sequence constitutes one cycle. As multiple cycles are performed, the substrate surface becomes the original substrate surface with a layer of Zr—Sn—Ti—O formed on it. The thickness of the Zr—Sn—Ti—O varies with the number of cycles performed. Within a given cycle, the substrate surface is the substrate surface of the previous cycle with additional material formed corresponding to the completed sequences within the given cycle.

In an embodiment, depositing titanium and oxygen onto a substrate surface may include forming TiO₂ onto the substrate surface by atomic layer deposition. Subsequent ALD processing of a zirconium sequence and a tin sequence forms a dielectric film containing Zr—Sn—Ti—O. In an embodiment, forming a dielectric film containing Zr—Sn—Ti—O by atomic layer deposition may include pulsing a TiCl₄ precursor, pulsing a ZrCl₄ precursor, pulsing a SnCl₄ precursor, and pulsing a water vapor precursor. Each pulsing delivers the associated precursor onto the substrate surface, where the substrate surface includes the previous precursor chemisorbed or reacted.

Performing each atomic layer deposition includes pulsing a plurality of precursors into a reaction chamber for a predetermined period. The predetermined period is individually controlled for each precursor pulsed into the reaction chamber. Further the substrate is maintained at a selected temperature for each pulsing of a precursor, where the selected temperature is set independently for pulsing each precursor. Additionally, each precursor may be pulsed into the reaction under separate environmental conditions. Appropriate temperatures and pressures are maintained dependent on the nature of the precursor, whether the precursor is a single precursor or a mixture of precursors.

Using atomic layer deposition, the pulsing of the precursor gases is separated by purging the reaction chamber with a purging gas following each pulsing of a precursor. In an embodiment, nitrogen gas is used as the purging gas following the pulsing of each precursor used in a cycle to form a layer of Zr—Sn—Ti—O. Additionally, the reaction chamber may also be purged by evacuating the reaction chamber.

FIG. 4 illustrates a flow diagram of elements for another embodiment of a method to process a dielectric film containing Zr—Sn—Ti—O by atomic layer deposition. This embodiment may be implemented with the atomic layer deposition system 200 of FIG. 2A,B.

At block 405, substrate 210 is prepared. The substrate used for forming a transistor is typically a silicon or silicon containing material. In other embodiments, germanium, gallium arsenide, silicon-on-sapphire substrates, or other suitable substrates may be used. This preparation process may include cleaning of substrate 210 and forming layers and regions of the substrate, such as drains and sources of a metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) transistor, prior to forming a gate dielectric. The sequencing of the formation of the regions of the transistor being processed follows typical sequencing that is generally performed in the fabrication of a MOS transistor as is well known to those skilled in the art. Included in the processing prior to forming a gate dielectric is the masking of substrate regions to be protected during the gate dielectric formation, as is typically performed in MOS fabrication. In this embodiment, the unmasked region may include a body region of a transistor, however one skilled in the art will recognize that other semiconductor device structures may utilize this process. Additionally, substrate 210 in its ready for processing form is conveyed into a position in reaction chamber 220 for ALD processing.

At block 410, a titanium containing precursor is pulsed into reaction chamber 220. In an embodiment, TiCl₄ is used as a precursor. The TiCl₄ precursor is pulsed into reaction chamber 220 through the gas-distribution fixture 240 onto substrate 210. Mass-flow controller 256 regulates the flow of the TiCl₄ from gas source 251, where the TiCl₄ is about 99.9% pure with an evaporation temperature of about 8° C. In an embodiment, the substrate temperature is maintained between about 120° C. and about 365° C. The TiCl₄ reacts with the surface of the substrate 210 in the desired region defined by the unmasked areas of the substrate 210. In other embodiments, a titanium containing precursor is selected from a group consisting of Ti(OC₂H₅)₄, and Ti(OC₃H₇)₄.

At block 415, a first purging gas is pulsed into reaction chamber 220. In particular, nitrogen with a purity of about 99.999% is used as a purging gas and a carrier gas at a flow rate of about 80 sccm and a pressure of about 10 mbar. Mass-flow controller 266 regulates the nitrogen flow from the purging gas source 261 into the gas conduit 270. Using the pure nitrogen purge avoids overlap of the precursor pulses and possible gas phase reactions. Following the purge, a first oxygen containing precursor is pulsed into reaction chamber 220, at block 420.

For the titanium sequence using TiCl₄ as the precursor, water vapor is selected as the precursor acting as a reactant to form Ti and O on the substrate 210. Alternately, H₂O₂ may be used as the oxygen containing precursor. Mass-flow controller 257 regulates the water vapor pulsing into reaction chamber 220 through gas conduit 270 from gas source 252 where the water vapor is held at about 10° C. The water vapor aggressively reacts at the surface of substrate 210.

Following the pulsing of an oxygen containing precursor, a second purging gas is injected into reaction chamber 220, at block 425. Nitrogen gas is used to purge the reaction chamber after pulsing each precursor gas in the titanium/oxygen sequence. Excess precursor gas, and reaction by-products are removed from the system by the purge gas in conjunction with the exhausting of reaction chamber 220 using vacuum pump 282 through mass-flow controller 287, and exhausting of the gas conduit 270 by the vacuum pump 281 through mass-flow controller 286.

During a TiCl₄/water vapor sequence, the substrate is held between about 120° C. and about 365° C. by the heating element 230. The TiCl₄ pulse time may range from about 0.2 sec to about 2 sec. After the TiCl₄ pulse, the titanium sequence continues with a purge pulse followed by a water vapor pulse followed by a purge pulse. In an embodiment, the water vapor pulse time may range from about 0.2 sec to about 2 sec, and the first and second purging pulse times are each at about 5 secs and 10 secs, respectively. In an embodiment, the titanium/oxygen sequence may include a 0.2 sec TiCl₄ pulse, a 5 sec nitrogen pulse, a 0.2 sec water vapor pulse, and a 10 sec nitrogen pulse.

At block 430, a zirconium containing precursor is pulsed into reaction chamber 220. In an embodiment, ZrCl₄ is used as the zirconium containing precursor. The ZrCl₄ precursor having a purity of about 99.9% is evaporated from a containment area held at about 165° C. in gas source 253. Mass-flow controller 258 regulates the pulsing of the ZrCl₄ precursor to the surface of the substrate 210 through gas-distribution fixture 240 from gas source 253. In an embodiment, the substrate temperature is maintained between about 300° C. and about 500° C.

At block 435, a third purging gas is introduced into the system. Nitrogen gas may also be used as a purging and carrier gas. The nitrogen flow is controlled by mass-flow controller 267 from the purging gas source 262 into the gas conduit 270 and subsequently into reaction chamber 220. In another embodiment, argon gas may be used as the purging gas. Following the pulsing of the third purging gas, a second oxygen containing precursor is pulsed into reaction chamber 220, at block 440. In an embodiment the second oxygen containing precursor is water vapor. Mass-flow controller 257 regulates the water vapor pulsing into reaction chamber 220 through gas conduit 270 from gas source 252. The water vapor aggressively reacts at the surface of substrate 210.

Following the pulsing of the second oxygen containing precursor, a fourth purging gas is injected into reaction chamber 220, at block 445. Nitrogen gas may be used to purge the reaction chamber after pulsing each precursor gas in the zirconium/oxygen sequence. In another embodiment, argon gas may be used as the purging gas. Excess precursor gas, and reaction by-products are removed from the system by the purge gas in conjunction with the exhausting of reaction chamber 220 using vacuum pump 282 through mass-flow controller 287, and exhausting of the gas conduit 270 by the vacuum pump 281 through mass-flow controller 286.

At block 450, a tin containing precursor is pulsed into reaction chamber 220. In an embodiment, SnCl₄ is used as the tin containing precursor. The SnCl₄ precursor having a purity of about 99.9% is pulsed from gas source 254 that is held at about 8° C. Alternately, the SnCl₄ is held in gas source 254 at a temperature ranging from about −1° C. to about 22° C. Mass-flow controller 259 regulates the pulsing of the SnCl₄ precursor to the surface of substrate 210 through gas-distribution fixture 240 from gas source 254. In an embodiment, the substrate temperature is maintained between about 430° C. and about 545° C.

At block 455, a fifth purging gas is introduced into the system. Pure nitrogen gas may also be used as a purging and carrier gas. The nitrogen flow is controlled by mass-flow controller 267 from the purging gas source 262 into the gas conduit 270 and subsequently into reaction chamber 220.

Following the pulsing of the fifth purging gas, a third oxygen containing precursor is pulsed into reaction chamber 220, at block 460. In an embodiment, the third oxygen containing precursor is water vapor. The water vapor is raised to about 24° C. in gas source 252. Mass-flow controller 257 regulates the water vapor pulsing into reaction chamber 220 through gas conduit 270 from gas source 252. The water vapor aggressively reacts at the surface of substrate 210.

Following the pulsing of the third oxygen containing precursor, a sixth purging gas is injected into reaction chamber 220, at block 465. Pure nitrogen gas may be used to purge the reaction chamber after pulsing each precursor gas in the tin/oxygen sequence. In another embodiment, argon gas may be used as the purging gas. Excess precursor gas, and reaction by-products are removed from the system by the purge gas in conjunction with the exhausting of reaction chamber 220 using vacuum pump 282 through mass-flow controller 287, and exhausting of the gas conduit 270 by the vacuum pump 281 through mass-flow controller 286.

During a SnCl₄/water vapor sequence, the substrate is held between about 430° C. and about 545° C. by the heating element 230. Alternately, the substrate is held at a temperature in the range of about 300° C. to about 600° C. at a pressure of about 2 mbar. The SnCl₄ pulse time ranges from about 0.2 sec to about 10 sec. After the SnCl₄ pulse, the tin sequence continues with a purge pulse followed by a water vapor pulse followed by a purge pulse. In an embodiment, the water vapor pulse time may range from about 0.6 secs to about 30 secs, and the SnCl4 and the water vapor purging pulse times are each between about 3 secs and 90 secs.

At block 470, a determination is made as to whether a desired number of cycles has been performed, that is, whether the number of completed cycles is equal to a predetermined number. The predetermined number corresponds to a predetermined thickness for the ALD Zr—Sn—Ti—O dielectric film. If the number of completed cycles is less than the predetermined number, the titanium containing precursor is pulsed into reaction chamber 220, at block 410, and the process continues. If the total number of cycles to form the desired thickness has been completed, the dielectric film containing Zr—Sn—Ti—O may be annealed. To avoid the diffusion of oxygen to the semiconductor substrate surface, any annealing may be performed in an oxygen-free environment for short periods of time. An embodiment of an annealing environment may include a nitrogen atmosphere. In addition to avoiding oxygen diffusion to the semiconductor substrate, the relatively low temperatures employed by atomic layer deposition of a Zr—Sn—Ti—O dielectric layer allows for the formation of an amorphous Zr—Sn—Ti—O dielectric layer.

The thickness of a Zr—Sn—Ti—O film is determined by a fixed growth rate for the pulsing periods and precursors used, set at a value such as N nm/cycle. For a desired Zr—Sn—Ti—O film thickness, t, in an application such as forming a gate dielectric of a MOS transistor, the ALD process is repeated for t/N total cycles. Once the t/N cycles have completed, no further ALD processing for Zr—Sn—Ti—O is required.

At block 475, after forming the Zr—Sn—Ti—O, processing the device having the dielectric layer containing Zr—Sn—Ti—O is completed. In an embodiment, completing the device may include completing the formation of a transistor. In another embodiment, completing the device may include completing the formation of a capacitor. Alternately, completing the process may include completing the construction of a memory device having a array with access transistors formed with gate dielectrics containing atomic layer deposited Zr—Sn—Ti—O. Further, in another embodiment, completing the process may include the formation of an electronic system including an information handling device that uses electronic devices with transistors formed with dielectric films containing atomic layer deposited Zr—Sn—Ti—O. Typically, information handling devices such as computers include many memory devices, having many access transistors.

It can be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the elements of a method for forming an atomic layer deposited Zr—Sn—Ti—O film in the embodiment of FIG. 4 may be performed under various other environmental conditions and pulse periods depending on the Zr—Sn—Ti—O film to be formed for a given application and the system used to fabricate the Zr—Sn—Ti—O film. Determination of the environmental conditions, precursors used, purging gases employed, and pulse periods for the precursors and purging gases may be made without undue experimentation.

Further, it can also be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the elements of a method for forming an atomic layer deposited Zr—Sn—Ti—O film in the embodiment of FIG. 4 may be performed with various permutations of the three sequences used to form the Zr—Sn—Ti—O dielectric film. In an embodiment, the zirconium/oxygen sequence is performed first. In another embodiment, the tin/oxygen sequence is performed first. Further, for a given cycle, any one sequence may be performed multiple times with respect to the other sequences. For example, a Zr—Sn—Ti—O cycle may include three titanium/oxygen sequences, one zirconium/oxygen sequence, and one tin/oxygen sequence. In an embodiment, a number of cycles for a titanium/oxygen sequence is performed along with a number of cycles for a zirconium/oxygen sequence and a number of cycles for a tin/oxygen sequence such that a Zr—Sn—Ti—O layer is formed having a composition as a solid solution of TiO₂—ZrO₂—SnO₂. Alternately, a solid solution of TiO_(x)—ZrO_(x)—SnO_(x) is formed as a dielectric film. Thus, ALD processing of a Zr—Sn—Ti—O layer provides for engineering of the composition of the Zr—Sn—Ti—O dielectric film.

In an embodiment, ALD processing of a Zr—Sn—Ti—O dielectric layer may include pulsing metal halides as precursors for each metal in the Zr—Sn—Ti—O layer. Additionally, water vapor may be used as the oxygen containing precursor for each sequence in an ALD cycle for forming a Zr—Sn—Ti—O layer. Other oxygen containing precursors may include H₂O₂ or a H₂O—H₂O₂ mixture. Alternately, other metal containing precursors and oxygen containing precursors may be used in the ALD formation of a Zr—Sn—Ti—O layer. These alternate metal containing precursors should chemisorb or react with the substrate surface without causing the resulting layer to form SiO₂ upon reaction with the oxygen containing precursors.

In an embodiment, ALD processing provides a method for controlling the formation of the dielectric film such that the dielectric film is an amorphous Ti-rich Zr—Sn—Ti—O film. In another embodiment, ALD processing may include controlling the atomic layer deposition to form the Zr—Sn—Ti—O dielectric film having a composition substantially of Zr_(y)Sn_(x)Ti_(1-x-y)O₄ with 0.3<y<0.7 and 0<x<0.2. Alternately, ALD processing may include controlling the atomic layer deposition to form the Zr—Sn—Ti—O dielectric film having a composition substantially of Zr_(0.2)Sn_(0.2)Ti_(0.6)O₂.

In an embodiment, ALD processing provides for the engineering of a dielectric film containing Zr—Sn—Ti—O having a dielectric constant in the range from about 33 to about 70, or alternately from about 50 to about 70. In another embodiment, ALD processing provides for the engineering of a dielectric film containing Zr—Sn—Ti—O having a dielectric constant in the range from about 33 to about 37.

Atomic layer deposition of a Zr—Sn—Ti—O dielectric layer may be processed in an atomic layer deposition system such as ALD system 200 under computer control to perform various embodiments, in accordance with the teachings of the current invention, and operated under computer-executable instructions to perform these embodiments. In an embodiment, a computerized method and the computer-executable instructions for a method for forming a dielectric film may include forming a Zr—Sn—Ti—O dielectric film by atomic layer deposition. In another embodiment, a computerized method and the computer-executable instructions for a method for forming a dielectric film may include depositing titanium and oxygen onto a substrate surface by atomic layer deposition, depositing zirconium and oxygen onto the substrate surface by atomic layer deposition, and depositing tin and oxygen onto the substrate surface by atomic layer deposition.

In an embodiment, a computerized method and the computer-executable instructions for a method for forming a dielectric film may further include forming the Zr—Sn—Ti—O dielectric film by atomic layer deposition, where a plurality of precursors are pulsed into a reaction chamber for a predetermined period. The predetermined period is individually controlled for each precursor pulsed into the reaction chamber. Further, the substrate may be maintained at a selected temperature for each pulsing of a precursor, where the selected temperature is set independently for pulsing each precursor. In addition, each pulsing of a precursor is followed by purging the reaction chamber with a purging gas.

In an embodiment, a computerized method and the computer-executable instructions for a method for forming a dielectric film may further include regulating the deposition of zirconium, tin, titanium, and oxygen to form a dielectric film having a dielectric constant in the range from about 33 to about 70, or alternately from about 50 to about 70. Further, the computerized method and the computer-executable instructions may include regulating the deposition of zirconium, tin, titanium, and oxygen to form a dielectric film having a dielectric constant in the range from about 33 to about 37.

In another embodiment, a computerized method and the computer-executable instructions for a method for forming a dielectric film may include forming TiO₂ onto a substrate surface by atomic layer deposition, depositing zirconium and oxygen onto the substrate surface by atomic layer deposition, and depositing tin and oxygen onto the substrate surface by atomic layer deposition. Further, depositing TiO₂ onto a substrate surface by atomic layer deposition may include pulsing a TiCl₄ precursor.

In another embodiment, a computerized method and the computer-executable instructions for a method for forming a dielectric film may further include controlling an environment of a reaction chamber. Additionally, the computerized method controls the pulsing of purging gases, one for each precursor gas and pulsing each purging gas after pulsing the associated precursor gas. Using a computer to control parameters for growing the dielectric film provides for processing the dielectric film over a wide range of parameters allowing for the determination of an optimum parameter set for the ALD system used. The computer-executable instructions may be provided in any computer-readable medium. Such computer-readable medium may include, but is not limited to, floppy disks, diskettes, hard disks, CD-ROMS, flash ROMS, nonvolatile ROM, and RAM.

An embodiment of this method may be realized using ALD system 200 of FIG. 2A, where the controls for the individual elements of ALD system 200 are coupled to a computer, not shown in FIG. 2A. The computer provides control of the operation for processing a Zr—Sn—Ti—O dielectric layer by regulating the flow of precursor gases into reaction chamber 220. The computer may control the flow rate of precursor gases and the pulsing periods for these gases by controlling mass-flow controllers 256-259. Additionally, the computer may control the temperature of gas sources 251-254. Further, the pulse period and flow of purging gases from purging gas sources 261, 262 may be regulated through computer control of mass-flow controllers 266, 267, respectively.

The computer may also regulate the environment of reactor chamber 220 in which a dielectric film is being formed on substrate 210. The computer regulates the pressure in reaction chamber 220 within a predetermined pressure range by controlling vacuum pumps 281, 282 through mass-flow controllers 286, 287, respectively. The computer also regulates the temperature range for substrate 210 within a predetermined range by controlling heater 230.

For convenience, the individual control lines to elements of ALD 200, as well as a computer, are not shown in FIG. 2A. The above description of the computer control in conjunction with FIG. 2A provides information for those skilled in the art to practice embodiments for forming a dielectric layer containing Zr—Sn—Ti—O using a computerized method as described herein.

The embodiments described herein provide a process for growing a dielectric film having a wide range of useful equivalent oxide thickness, t_(eq), associated with a dielectric constant in the range from about 33 to about 70. With increased percentage of Ti and decreased percentage of Zr and Sn in a Zr—Sn—Ti—O dielectric film, the dielectric film composition approaches that of TiO_(x), where TiO₂ has a dielectric constant of about 80, and a relatively low breakdown electric field. With increased percentage of Zr and decreased percentage of Ti and Sn in a Zr—Sn—Ti—O dielectric film, the dielectric film composition approaches that of ZrO_(x), where ZrO₂ has a dielectric constant of about 25, and a relatively higher breakdown electric field. Inclusion of tin in the Zr—Sn—Ti—O layer aids in the production of a dielectric layer with increased electric field breakdown and reduced leakage current. Further, ALD processing of amorphous Ti-rich Zr—Sn—Ti—O dielectric films allows for selecting a dielectric film with a composition having good electric field breakdown and leakage current properties while maintaining a relatively high dielectric constant. For example, a 40-50 nm thick film of Zr_(0.2)Sn_(0.2)TiO_(0.6)O₂ can have a dielectric constant in the range of about 50 to about 70 with a breakdown electric field of about 3 to about 5 MV/cm and a leakage current in the range of about 10⁻⁹ to about 10⁻⁷ A/cm² at 1.0 MV/cm.

The t_(eq) range in accordance with embodiments of the present invention are shown in the following

Physical Physical Physical Physical Thickness Thickness Thickness Thickness t = 1.0 nm t = 5.0 nm t = 100.0 nm t = 450 nm (1.0 × 10¹ Å) (5.0 × 10¹ Å) (1 × 10³ Å) (4.5 × 10³ Å) κ t_(eq) (Å) t_(eq) (Å) t_(eq) (Å) t_(eq) (Å) 33 1.18 5.91 118.18 531.82 37 1.05 5.27 105.41 474.32 50 0.78 3.90 78.00 351.00 70 0.56 2.79 55.71 250.71

The relatively large dielectric constant for material layers of Zr—Sn—Ti—O allows for the engineering of dielectric films having a physical thickness in the 100 nm (1000 Å) range, while achieving a t_(eq) of less than 120 Å. From above, it is apparent that a film containing Zr—Sn—Ti—O may be attained with a t_(eq) ranging from about 2.5 Å to about 6 Å. Further, an atomic layer deposited Zr—Sn—Ti—O film may provide a t_(eq) significantly less than 2 or 3 Å, even less than 1.5 Å.

Attainment of a t_(eq) in the monolayer thickness range requires that an interfacial layer between a semiconductor substrate surface and the Zr—Sn—Ti—O dielectric layer be exceptionally small or composed of a material having a dielectric constant approaching that of the Zr—Sn—Ti—O value. The formation of a SiO₂ interfacial layer should be avoided. Thus, the preparation of the semiconductor substrate surface prior to the first pulse of the first sequence of the ALD process should include removing any SiO₂ layer that may exist and preventing the formation of a SiO₂ prior to the beginning of the ALD process. During, the ALD process, selection of appropriate precursors may prevent the formation of a SiO₂ layer. Further, to assist in the reduction or elimination of a SiO₂ interfacial layer, the deposition of the first precursor, typically a non-oxygen containing precursor in various embodiments, on the semiconductor surface should be uniform across the substrate surface. This uniform distribution may aid in avoiding a reaction of the second precursor, an oxygen containing precursor, with the substrate surface rather than with the first precursor.

Any micro-roughness associated with thin films of Zr—Sn—Ti—O may be due to partial monolayer formation of the dielectric layer across the substrate surface. With some areas of the dielectric layer forming a monolayer in two or three cycles, while another area or region of the layer forms a monolayer in one or two cycles, the surface of the Zr—Sn—Ti—O dielectric layer may exhibit some micro-roughness. Uniform distribution across the substrate surface of each precursor in a sequence may help to alleviate the occurrence of such micro-roughness of the dielectric layer. As can be understood by those skilled in the art, particular growth rates and processing conditions for providing a Zr—Sn—Ti—O dielectric layer with reduction or substantially eliminated micro-roughness may be determined during normal initial testing of the ALD system for processing a Zr—Sn—Ti—O dielectric film for a given application without undue experimentation.

Further, dielectric films of Zr—Sn—Ti—O formed by atomic layer deposition may provide not only ultra thin t_(eq) films, but also films with relatively low leakage current. In addition to using ALD to provide precisely engineered film thicknesses with engineered dielectric constants, good breakdown electric field properties, and relatively low leakage currents, ALD processing provides for dielectric films that provide conformal layering onto selected substrate surfaces.

The novel processes described above for performing atomic layer deposition of Zr—Sn—Ti—O may precisely control the thickness of the dielectric layer formed, where, in addition to providing an ultra thin t_(eq), the atomic layer deposition process provides for relatively smooth surfaces and limited interfacial layer formation. Additionally, these embodiments for ALD processing of Zr—Sn—Ti—O dielectric films may be implemented to form transistors, capacitors, memory devices, and other electronic systems including information handling devices. With careful preparation and engineering of the Zr—Sn—Ti—O layer, limiting the size of interfacial regions, a teq of about 5 Å to about 3 Å or lower for these devices is anticipated.

In an embodiment, a dielectric layer may include a film containing atomic layer deposited Zr—Sn—Ti—O. In an embodiment, the film contains an amorphous Ti-rich Zr—Sn—Ti—O film. In another embodiment, the film may include Zr—Sn—Ti—O having a composition substantially of Zr_(y)Sn_(x)Ti_(1-x-y)O₄ with 0.3<y<0.7 and 0<x<0.2. In another embodiment, the film may include Zr—Sn—Ti—O having a composition substantially of Zr_(0.2)Sn_(0.2)Ti_(0.6)O₂. Such a dielectric layer may have applications in a wide variety of electronic systems. With a relatively high dielectric constant, a dielectric layer including a film containing atomic layer deposited Zr—Sn—Ti—O may be used in electro-optic devices, microwave devices, transistors, memories, information handling devices, and other electronic systems.

A transistor 100 as depicted in FIG. 1 may be formed by forming a source region 120 and a drain region 130 in a silicon based substrate 110 where source and drain regions 120, 130 are separated by a body region 132. Body region 132 defines a channel having a channel length 134. A dielectric film is disposed on substrate 110 formed as a layer containing Zr—Sn—Ti—O on substrate 110 by atomic layer deposition. The resulting Zr—Sn—Ti—O dielectric layer forms gate dielectric 140.

A gate 150 is formed over gate dielectric 140. Typically, forming gate 150 may include forming a polysilicon layer, though a metal gate may be formed in an alternative process. Forming the substrate, the source and drain regions, and the gate is performed using standard processes known to those skilled in the art. Additionally, the sequencing of the various elements of the process for forming a transistor is conducted with standard fabrication processes, also as known to those skilled in the art.

The method for forming an atomic layer deposited Zr—Sn—Ti—O in various embodiments may be applied to other transistor structures having dielectric layers. FIG. 5 shows an embodiment of a configuration of a transistor 500 having an atomic layer deposited Zr—Sn—Ti—O dielectric film. Transistor 500 may include a silicon based substrate 510 with a source 520 and a drain 530 separated by a body region 532. Body region 532 between source 520 and drain 530 defines a channel region having a channel length 534. Located above body region 532 is a stack 555 including a gate dielectric 540, a floating gate 552, a floating gate dielectric 542, and a control gate 550. Gate dielectric 540 may be formed containing atomic layer deposited Zr—Sn—Ti—O as described above with the remaining elements of the transistor 500 formed using processes known to those skilled in the art. Alternately, both gate dielectric 540 and floating gate dielectric 542 may be formed as dielectric layers containing Zr—Sn—Ti—O in various embodiments as described herein.

The embodiments of methods for forming Zr—Sn—Ti—O dielectric films may also be applied to forming capacitors in various integrated circuits, memory devices, and electronic systems. In an embodiment for forming a capacitor, a method may include forming a first conductive layer, forming a dielectric film containing Zr—Sn—Ti—O on the first conductive layer by atomic layer deposition, and forming a second conductive layer on the dielectric film. ALD formation of the Zr—Sn—Ti—O dielectric film allows the dielectric film to be engineered within a predetermined composition providing a desired dielectric constant. Alternately, forming a conductive layer on a substrate, forming a dielectric film containing Zr—Sn—Ti—O using any of the embodiments described herein, and forming another conductive layer on the dielectric film can construct a capacitor.

Transistors, capacitors, and other devices having dielectric films containing atomic layer deposited Zr—Sn—Ti—O formed by the methods described above may be implemented into memory devices and electronic systems including information handling devices. Such information devices may include wireless systems, telecommunication systems, and computers. An embodiment of a computer having a dielectric layer containing atomic layer deposited Zr—Sn—Ti—O is shown in FIGS. 6-8 and described below. While specific types of memory devices and computing devices are shown below, it will be recognized by one skilled in the art that several types of memory devices and electronic systems including information handling devices utilize the invention.

A personal computer, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, may include a monitor 600, keyboard input 602 and a central processing unit 604. Central processor unit 604 typically may include microprocessor 706, memory bus circuit 708 having a plurality of memory slots 712(a-n), and other peripheral circuitry 710. Peripheral circuitry 710 permits various peripheral devices 724 to interface processor-memory bus 720 over input/output (I/O) bus 722. The personal computer shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 also may include at least one transistor having a dielectric layer containing atomic layer deposited Zr—Sn—Ti—O according an embodiment of the present invention.

Microprocessor 706 produces control and address signals to control the exchange of data between memory bus circuit 708 and microprocessor 706 and between memory bus circuit 708 and peripheral circuitry 710. This exchange of data is accomplished over high speed memory bus 720 and over high speed I/O bus 722.

Coupled to memory bus 720 are a plurality of memory slots 712(a-n), which receive memory devices well known to those skilled in the art. For example, single in-line memory modules (SIMMs) and dual in-line memory modules (DIMMs) may be used in the implementation of embodiment of the present invention.

These memory devices may be produced in a variety of designs that provide different methods of reading from and writing to the dynamic memory cells of memory slots 712. One such method is the page mode operation. Page mode operations in a DRAM are defined by the method of accessing a row of a memory cell arrays and randomly accessing different columns of the array. Data stored at the row and column intersection may be read and output while that column is accessed. Page mode DRAMs require access steps, which limit the communication speed of memory circuit 708.

An alternate type of device is the extended data output (EDO) memory, which allows data stored at a memory array address to be available as output after the addressed column has been closed. This memory may increase some communication speeds by allowing shorter access signals without reducing the time in which memory output data is available on memory bus 720. Other alternative types of devices include SDRAM, DDR SDRAM, SLDRAM and Direct RDRAM as well as others such as SRAM or Flash memories.

FIG. 8 illustrates a schematic view of an embodiment of a DRAM memory device 800 having an atomic layer deposited Zr—Sn—Ti—O dielectric film. Illustrative DRAM memory device 800 is compatible with memory slots 712(a-n). The description of DRAM memory device 800 has been simplified for purposes of illustrating a DRAM memory device and is not intended to be a complete description of all the features of a DRAM. Those skilled in the art will recognize that a wide variety of memory devices may be used in the implementation of embodiments of the present invention. The embodiment of a DRAM memory device shown in FIG. 8 may include at least one transistor having a gate dielectric containing atomic layer deposited Zr—Sn—Ti—O according to the teachings of the present invention.

Control, address and data information provided over memory bus 720 is further represented by individual inputs to DRAM 800, as shown in FIG. 8. These individual representations are illustrated by data lines 802, address lines 804 and various discrete lines directed to control logic 806.

As is well known in the art, DRAM 800 may include memory array 810, which in turn comprises rows and columns of addressable memory cells. Each memory cell in a row is coupled to a common word line. The word line is coupled to gates of individual transistors, where at least one transistor has a gate coupled to a gate dielectric containing atomic layer deposited Zr—Sn—Ti—O in accordance with the method and structure previously described above. Additionally, each memory cell in a column is coupled to a common bit line. Each cell in memory array 810 may include a storage capacitor and an access transistor as is conventional in the art.

DRAM 800 interfaces with, for example, microprocessor 706 through address lines 804 and data lines 802. Alternatively, DRAM 800 may interface with a DRAM controller, a micro-controller, a chip set or other electronic system. Microprocessor 706 also provides a number of control signals to DRAM 800, including but not limited to, row and column address strobe signals RAS and CAS, write enable signal WE, an output enable signal OE and other conventional control signals.

Row address buffer 812 and row decoder 814 receive and decode row addresses from row address signals provided on address lines 804 by microprocessor 706. Each unique row address corresponds to a row of cells in memory array 810. Row decoder 814 may include a word line driver, an address decoder tree, and circuitry which translates a given row address received from row address buffers 812 and selectively activates the appropriate word line of memory array 810 via the word line drivers.

Column address buffer 816 and column decoder 818 receive and decode column address signals provided on address lines 804. Column decoder 818 also determines when a column is defective and the address of a replacement column. Column decoder 818 is coupled to sense amplifiers 820. Sense amplifiers 820 are coupled to complementary pairs of bit lines of memory array 810.

Sense amplifiers 820 are coupled to data-in buffer 822 and data-out buffer 824. Data-in buffers 822 and data-out buffers 824 are coupled to data lines 802. During a write operation, data lines 802 provide data to data-in buffer 822. Sense amplifier 820 receives data from data-in buffer 822 and stores the data in memory array 810 as a charge on a capacitor of a cell at an address specified on address lines 804.

During a read operation, DRAM 800 transfers data to microprocessor 706 from memory array 810. Complementary bit lines for the accessed cell are equilibrated during a precharge operation to a reference voltage provided by an equilibration circuit and a reference voltage supply. The charge stored in the accessed cell is then shared with the associated bit lines. A sense amplifier of sense amplifiers 820 detects and amplifies a difference in voltage between the complementary bit lines. The sense amplifier passes the amplified voltage to data-out buffer 824.

Control logic 806 is used to control the many available functions of DRAM 800. In addition, various control circuits and signals not detailed herein initiate and synchronize DRAM 800 operation as known to those skilled in the art. As stated above, the description of DRAM 800 has been simplified for purposes of illustrating an embodiment of the present invention and is not intended to be a complete description of all the features of a DRAM. Those skilled in the art will recognize that a wide variety of memory devices, including but not limited to, SDRAMs, SLDRAMs, RDRAMs and other DRAMs and SRAMs, VRAMs and EEPROMs, may be used in the implementation of embodiments of the present invention. The DRAM implementation described herein is illustrative only and not intended to be exclusive or limiting.

CONCLUSION

A dielectric film containing atomic layer deposited Zr—Sn—Ti—O and a method of fabricating such a dielectric film produce a reliable dielectric film having an equivalent oxide thickness thinner than attainable using SiO₂. Dielectric films containing atomic layer deposited Zr—Sn—Ti—O formed using the methods described herein are thermodynamically stable such that the dielectric films formed will have minimal reactions with a silicon substrate or other structures during processing.

Zr—Sn—Ti—O films formed by atomic layer deposition may be amorphous and conformally layered on a substrate surface. Engineering the composition of the Zr—Sn—Ti—O films may provide for selecting a dielectric film with increased breakdown electric fields and decreased leakage currents with relatively high dielectric constant relative to a Zr—Sn—Ti—O film with higher dielectric constant but lower breakdown electric fields and decreased leakage current. Further, the ALD formation of a Zr—Sn—Ti—O dielectric film provides for enhanced dielectric and electrical properties relative to those attained with an amorphous SiO_(x)film. These properties of layers containing atomic layer deposited Zr—Sn—Ti—O films allow for application as dielectric layers in numerous electronic devices and systems.

Capacitors, transistors, higher level ICs or devices, and electronic systems are constructed utilizing the novel process for forming a dielectric film having an ultra thin equivalent oxide thickness, t_(eq). Gate dielectric layers or films containing atomic layer deposited Zr—Sn—Ti—O are formed having a dielectric constant substantially higher than that of silicon oxide, where the dielectric films are capable of a t_(eq) thinner than 10 Å, thinner than the expected limit for SiO₂ gate dielectrics. At the same time, the physical thickness of the atomic layer deposited Zr—Sn—Ti—O dielectric film is much larger than the SiO₂ thickness associated with the t_(eq) limit of SiO₂. Forming the relatively larger thickness provides advantages in processing gate dielectrics and other dielectric layers. Further, a Zr—Sn—Ti—O film processed in relatively low temperatures allowed by atomic layer deposition may provide amorphous dielectric films having relatively low leakage current for use as dielectric layers in electronic devices and systems.

Although specific embodiments have been illustrated and described herein, it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that any arrangement that is calculated to achieve the same purpose may be substituted for the specific embodiment shown. This application is intended to cover any adaptations or variations of the present invention. It is to be understood that the above description is intended to be illustrative, and not restrictive. Combinations of the above embodiments, and other embodiments will be apparent to those of skill in the art upon reviewing the above description. The scope of the invention includes any other applications in which the above structures and fabrication methods are used. The scope of the invention should be determined with reference to the appended claims, along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled. 

1. A dielectric layer comprising: a Zr—Sn—Ti—O film such that Zr—Sn—Ti—O material is configured as substantially atomic monolayers.
 2. The dielectric layer of claim 1, wherein the dielectric layer includes an amorphous Ti-rich Zr—Sn—Ti—O layer.
 3. The dielectric layer of claim 1, wherein the dielectric layer includes a composition substantially of Zr_(y)Sn_(x)Ti_(1-x-y)O₄ with 0.3<y<0.7 and 0<x<0.2.
 4. The dielectric layer of claim 1, wherein the dielectric layer includes a composition substantially of Zr_(0.2)Sn_(0.2)TiO_(0.6)O₂.
 5. The dielectric layer of claim 1, wherein the Zr—Sn—Ti—O film as a surface opposite a substrate on which the dielectric layer is disposed, the surface having a roughness less than a monolayer of the Zr—Sn—Ti—O film.
 6. The dielectric layer of claim 1, wherein the dielectric layer is disposed above a silicon based substrate.
 7. The dielectric layer of claim 1, wherein the dielectric layer is disposed in a storage capacitor of a cell in a memory array.
 8. A capacitor, comprising: a first conductive layer; a dielectric layer having a Zr—Sn—Ti—O film such that Zr—Sn—Ti—O material is configured as substantially atomic monolayers, the dielectric layer disposed on the first conductive layer; and a second conductive layer disposed on the dielectric layer.
 9. The capacitor of claim 8, wherein the dielectric layer includes an amorphous Ti-rich Zr—Sn—Ti—O film.
 10. The capacitor of claim 8, wherein the dielectric layer exhibits a dielectric constant in the range from about 50 to about
 70. 11. A transistor comprising: a body region between a source region and a drain region; a dielectric layer having a Zr—Sn—Ti—O film such that Zr—Sn—Ti—O material is configured as substantially atomic monolayers, the dielectric layer disposed on the body region between the source region and the drain region; and a gate coupled to the dielectric film.
 12. The transistor of claim 11, wherein the gate includes a floating gate.
 13. The transistor of claim 11, wherein the dielectric layer exhibits a dielectric constant in the range from about 50 to about
 70. 14. The transistor of claim 11, wherein the dielectric layer exhibits an equivalent oxide thickness (t_(eq)) less than about 10 Angstroms.
 15. The transistor of claim 11, wherein the dielectric layer exhibits an equivalent oxide thickness (t_(eq)) of less than about 3 Angstroms.
 16. The transistor of claim 11, wherein the dielectric layer includes an amorphous Ti-rich Zr—Sn—Ti—O film.
 17. A memory comprising: a number of access transistors, at least one access transistor including a gate coupled to a dielectric layer containing a Zr—Sn—Ti—O film such that Zr—Sn—Ti—O material is configured as substantially atomic monolayers, the dielectric layer disposed on a body region between a source region and a drain region; a number of word lines coupled to a number of the gates of the number of access transistors; a number of source lines coupled to a number of the source regions of the number of access transistors; and a number of bit lines coupled to a number of the drain regions of the number of access transistors.
 18. The memory array of claim 17, wherein the dielectric layer has a dielectric constant in the range from about 50 to about
 70. 19. The memory array of claim 17, wherein the dielectric layer has an equivalent oxide thickness (t_(eq)) less than about 10 Angstroms.
 20. An electronic system comprising: a dielectric layer containing a Zr—Sn—Ti—O film such that Zr—Sn—Ti—O material is configured as substantially atomic monolayers.
 21. The electronic system of claim 20, wherein the dielectric layer includes an amorphous Ti-rich Zr—Sn—Ti—O film.
 22. The electronic system of claim 20, wherein the dielectric layer includes a dielectric film having a composition substantially of Zr_(y)Sn_(x)Ti_(1-x-y)O₄ with 0.3<y<0.7 and 0<x<0.2.
 23. An electronic system comprising: a processor; a system bus; and a memory array coupled to the processor by the system bus, the memory array including: a number of access transistors, at least one access transistor having a gate coupled to a dielectric film containing a Zr—Sn—Ti—O film such that Zr—Sn—Ti—O material is configured as substantially atomic monolayers, the dielectric film disposed on a body region between a source region and a drain region; a number of word lines coupled to a number of the gates of the number of access transistors; a number of source lines coupled to a number of the source regions of the number of access transistors; and a number of bit lines coupled to a number of the drain regions of the number of access transistors.
 24. The electronic system of claim 23, wherein the dielectric film has a dielectric constant in the range from about 50 to about
 70. 25. The electronic system of claim 23, wherein the film exhibits an equivalent oxide thickness (t_(eq)) less than about 10 Angstroms. 